Personal foreign remittances of Saudis went up considerably during the past three years as it hit a record SR56.28 billion last year. “The amount transferred by Saudis for personal purposes to foreign countries rose by 87.7 percent last January to reach SR5.37 billion,” Al-Watan Arabic daily reported quoting the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA).

Analysts calim that such remittances of Saudis were projected to rise this year. In 2005, the figure amounted to SR56.28 billion, which was 57.1 percent higher than the figure of 2004, the paper said.